Eco City World Summit

Dolphins, swans, clear blue skies and oceans are being perceived by many as indications of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting ecosystems and the environment. People are concluding that while daily activities and social lives have been disrupted, reduced carbon emissions are giving them clearer views of natural sceneries beyond the horizon.

However, environmental researchers are quick to point out that what we are seeing now are effects of those concerted efforts rather than immediate results of recent quarantine and travel ban measures. They are results of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions long before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out,

Although it is heartwarming that many are now appreciative in seeing different species returning to their natural habitats, caution is being given when connecting such occurrences to the COVID-19 event. In an interview with Forbes.com. the Managing Director of Rewilding Europe, Frans Schepers explained that

What we are seeing is actually a result of a much longer trend, because had the population of those animal species went into a decline, they would not be showing up in the wake of the novel coronavirus lockdown” “It is natural for animals to behave differently when everything is calm and peaceful, as such conditions allow them get closer to villages and cities.”

Schepers further discussed that people can expect to see more wildlife, demonstrating how numerous species have benefited from habitat improvements, fewer poachers, less hunting activities, better protection, as safer havens owing to absence of all human pressure.

All those take time to happen, and the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic gave nature the opportunity to exhibit how it has responded from such benefits. He added that

“If people ease out pressures on nature, nature bounces back, as what we see happening now.” “Mainly because of nature’s huge resilience and capability to restore itself; giving us hope that ecosystems and the environment could return to their natural conditions.

About Rewilding Europe

Rewilding Europe is a non-profit organisation founded in 2011 by ARK Nature,, Conservation Capital, Wild Wonders of Europe and the WWF-Netherlands. Currently based in Nijmegen, Netherlands, the group’s mission is to create rewilded landscapes across Europe in at least 10 different regions.

As concerns heightened for marine organisms that rely on endangered reefs for their continued existence, researchers from the University of Delaware have explored the possibility of using 3D-printed coral reefs as replacement habitats.

As it is, possibilities of rehabilitating the endangered corals is getting more remote in light of the worsening weather conditions caused by climate change. Plastic pollution and coral bleaching due to continuously warming water temperatures, continue to destroy the already distraught reefs. As a result many marine organisms are without protection against strong waves and harsh tropical storms.

Dr. Danielle Dixson Assistant Professor at the School of Marine Science & Policy at the UD College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, along with Emily Ruhl, a UD alumnus, have tested the viability of 3D-printed coral reefs.

In a laboratory setting, the researchers placed mustard hill larvae and damselfish near a coral skeleton and 4 artificial corals made of different filaments.

One 3D- coral model was made from polyester, another was made from cornstarch, while another from cornstarch mixed with stainless steel powder. The UD researchers’ observations led them to conclusions that the 3D-printed habitats did not in any way impact the behavior of the damselfish. Also, there were no signs the affected marine organisms had preference for any of the materials used as artificial coral reef skeleton.

Behavioral Analysis Shows Great Potential of 3D-Printed Corals

Dr. Dixson is quite happy with the promising results of their experiments, saying that

“Had the fish not use the 3D-printed coral models as a habitat in the wild, they are at greater risk for predation.” “Had the coral larvae did not settle on the artificially constructed coral skeletons, they cannot help rebuild the reef.”

Ruhl on the other hand was surprised that even with the presence of a natural coral, damselfish and the mustard hill larvae alike did not demonstrate any difference in behavior. They took to the different 3D corals in the same way as they did with the natural coral skeleton. Moreover, the activity level of the damselfish remained constant, regardless if their travels were confined inside a tank.

Ruhl, who holds a Masters Degree in Marine Biosciences, was happy to note that the small reef fish did not mind that the habitat was made from calcium carbonate or not, because all they wanted was a place for protection.

A first of its kind study that sought to gain insight on the changes that transpired in the areas burned by the Rondônia Amazon fire, was conducted by researchers of the University of Kansas (KU).

Headed by Gabriel de Oliveira, a KU Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science researcher, backed with a background in Ph.D. in Remote Sensing acquired from Brazil’s Sao Jose dos Campos via the Brazilian Space Agency/National Institute for Space Research P, Brazil, who stressed the importance of studies centered on biosphere-atmosphere interactions.and the changes that transpire to land cover.

They are significant because such changes affect the exchange of heat and water between the Amazon and the atmosphere.

Gabriel de Oliveira explained that since the Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, the precipitation and all the water fluxes that transpire in the Amazon, affects the entire planet. That is why much of the international concern over the recent Amazon fire, arises from Amazon’s role in regulating the global climate.

Previous scientific researches have established that every year, the Amazon is capable of absorbing two (2) billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), which represent about five percent (5%) of global emissions. Continuing fires in the region therefore, tend to erode the Amazon’s carbon-absorbing capacity. Even worse is that widespread fires simultaneously contribute large amounts of carbon to the atmosphere.

What the KU Researchers Gathered from their Analysis of the Burned Land Covers

Using information provided by space and weather station satellites, de Oliveira and his fellow researchers analyzed data on the “Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER)” and from “Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA).

They then compared changes in water and surface energy that transpired in eastern Rondônia, Brazil, over different types of land cover in a drought year and a wet year. The KU research team also found statistically significant variations in other important measures, before and after a year of deforestation.

NASA satellite, high spatial resolution (15m) images, obtained by the ASTER sensor in Rondônia, showed that deforestation that consequently transformed the forest into pasture or agriculture land for soybean production, hand increased the soil and air temperatures in the Brazilian region, by two to four times the measures recorded before deforestation.

The research team also observed that when compared to non-forested areas in Rondônia, the amount of evapotranspiration occurring in Rondônia’s forested areas, are approximately three times higher. Moreover, notable spatial variations on the following:

The albedo or the amount of sunlight reflecting on the surface;

The net radiation or energy provided by sunlight that is available on the surface;

The measure of heat transferred from surface to atmosphere by way of soil and heat fluxes

The amount of water transferred from land to atmosphere when evaporating from the soil and during the process of transpiration in plants.

Those significant variances were noted between areas located on the opposite sides of Ji-Paraná River. To which one side had suffered more deforestation than the other side, where land is within the Jaru Biological Reserve protection.

Gabriel de Oliveira, who was born and raised in Brazil, said that

”There are no natural fires in the Amazon. They are all set by human beings, who claim they are only setting to ready the agricultural lands in order to make soil a little better.” ”Yet every year, fires get out of control in agricultural land, reaching and burning the forest.especially during severe drought events as everything is really dry.”

Researchers of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois in Chicago have ascertained that after tornadoes touch down and cut through forests, the resulting destruction paves the way for the introduction of new and invasive species.

The study, which was recently published in the Journal of Ecology, furnished evidence that large tornado-damaged areas left open spaces in the forests of southern Illinois, which allowed the introduction of invasive vegetation. As a result, forests with large invasive species growth were slower to recover, when compared to areas left unharmed by tornado blowdowns.

The research project led by Melissa Daniels, a former graduate student amd Eric Larson, assistant professor in the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environment also at the U of I, studied Landsat imagery in identifying blowdown and unharmed forest areas, which Daniels later visited in 2018 for purposes of surveying the invasive plants.

Assistant Professor Eric Larson explained that we tend to assume the forest recovers once the invasive species are shaded out; but they do not. After visiting all 62 sites identified through the Landsat imagery, Daniels reported that certain species of plant invaders demonstrated the ability to thrive and grow even under closed closed canopy conditions.

Why be Concerned about Invasive Species When They will be Outshaded Over Time?

The concern raised by studies related to Ms. Daniels’ findings is that forest management administrators can be misled into believing that forests will take their own natural course in forest recovery. However, since some invasive plant species continue to survive and grow, they pose as blockers to forest regeneration, and cause slow forest recovery.

At the same time, invasive infestation can spread to, and persist in neighboring forests, likewise affecting conditions necessary for faster forest regeneration. The greater impact is that invasive species can disrupt ecosystem services, affect biodiversity and lead to lowering of carbon sequestration,

Of the invasive plant species found thriving in the tornado-damaged areas, Daniels identified the top five persistent invaders as the autumn olive, multiflora rose, Amur honeysuckle, the Japanese honeysuckle, and the Oriental bittersweet.

Ms. Daniels explained further that since these invasive plants have the capability to survive shaded conditions, they can impact forest health and the significant benefits forests bring to the communities. The research team therefore emphasized the need to give care about any phenomena that can affect forests.

A study conducted by Nathan Donley, a Senior Scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, revealed that numerous pesticides already banned or currently being phased out in Brazil, China and in EU countries, are still approved for use in the U.S.

Donley’s study which was published by the Environmental Health journal, shows that the US Environmental Protective Agency’s (EPA’s) reliance on voluntary cancellation by the pesticide industry is no longer effective as far as regulations of pesticides are concerned.

Donley’s findings provide evidence that if the EPA continues pesticide regulation by relying on the voluntary mechanism, the U.S. will likewise continue to allow the widespread agricultural use of more and more harmful pesticides already banned by its peer countries.

The Senior Scientist, identified the pesticides only through their number labels; citing Numbers 11, 17 and 72 as pesticides still enjoying US approval, notwithstanding that the substances are already prohibited for use, or in the process of being banned in EU countries,and in China as well as in Brazil. Additionally, pesticides number 85 and 13, plus two others as being in the process of securing approval despite the fact that the substances have already been phased in at least oe or two of the aforementioned agricultural countries.

Study Identifies the Pesticides Already Banned by Other Countries

Donley further claims that of the 1.2 billion pounds of chemical formulations used for pest control in the U.S., an estimated 322 million pounds of the substances have already been banned in EU; 40 million pounds are banned pesticides in China while approximately 26 billion pounds have already been prohibited for use in Brazil.

Moreover, Donley noted that out of the 134 active ingredients used for pesticides, 97 were submitted for voluntary cancellation by the U.S. pesticide industry. Apparently, the EPA became reliant on the submission for voluntary cancellation. So much so that the U.S. is now lagging behind in the prohibition of harmful substances used in controlling pests in U.S. farms.

The observation is demonstrated through the number of pesticides initiated for cancellation by the EPA, which decreased significantly over the years. Whereas, the number of voluntary cancellations submitted by the pesticide industry, rose.

Donley’s findings suggest that the US EPA relies mainly on the voluntary cancellations initiated by the pesticide industry as a method of prohibiting pesticides.

Living corals face numerous threats as many reef-inhabiting fish are corallivorous, species that consume live coral tissues as food. Majority of reef-fishes prey on living corals, some preferring the soft mollusk types, while many others such as the larger fish species, feed on hard or stony corals. In the Indo-Pacific region alone (comprised by the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean), more than 600 species of hard corals provide food and habitat structure to an estimated 4000 up to 5000 species of reef fish.

However, many corallivores or coral-eating fishes tend to scrape the tissues off the coral skeleton, and in the process, cause substantial damage to the underlying skeleton. As a result , living corals take time to recover, as the process has to deal with both tissue and skeleton regeneration. Such occurrences tend to threaten the ability of hard corals to provide calcium carbonate skeletons that make up the hard substrate of coral reefs. This type of threat to the formation of coral reefs, is presumably a part of the natural check and balance in aquatic life.

Coral reefs, as we all know, is essential to marine ecology since the structure formed by the coral skeleton serves as habitat and shelter for a broad range of fish species. Coral unable to recover from diseases or harsh feeding habits of corallivores, leave behind skeletons that remain intact for long periods of time, allowing the formation of coral reefs.

Impact of Climate Change on Living Corals

Global warming has caused climate changes that bring extreme warm or cold conditions. Living corals tend to react to stressors, such as overly warm or overly cold water temperatures. When stressed, corals expel the algae covering their tissues causing them to turn white. Such occurrences are called coral bleaching.

Climate change caused increases in sea temperatures and decline in sea levels, as well as brought down rainfall with altered acidity level. Coral bleaching cause living corals to die, whilst leaving behind weak skeleton infrastructure as coral reef material. Low tides also cause damage, especially during daytime. Mainly because the part of the coral reef exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays are stressed and as a result turn white or bleached..

All factors affecting living corals and the structures they form, impact aquatic life, particularly the multitude of species that depend on corals for food and habitat. Corals have the ability to recover from occasional stresses caused by stressors and threats. Yet the frequency and intensity of the trauma endured as a result of climate change, will in the long run cause corals and those that greatly depend on them, to perish.

Warmer than average temperatures are causing generalist species with preference for colder habitats, to move and redistribute in groups toward the poles. As a result, their movement toward new ecosystems is changing the flow of energy and carbon as they connect to existing food webs; whilst altering the natural feeding behaviors in a particular ecosystem.

When ecosystems are altered, food connections are rewired. Rewiring transpires when species navigating across landscapes in search of abundant sources of food, rapidly respond by shifting habitats. Through their relative use of different sources of energy, their foraging behavior causes a rewiring of the links connecting different feeding behaviors that exist in an ecosystem.

University of Guelph Conducts Studies on Changing Behavior of Generalist Species in Lake Ontario

Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada, led by Tim Bartley, of the Department of Integrative Biology, together with biology professors Andrew McDougall and Kevin McCann, conducted studies by monitoring generalist species. The results of their studies were published in the Nature Ecology and Evolution journal, to which they recommend harnessing the natural ability of species to detect and react to the changes happening in their natural habitats.

Over the past decade, the team of UG researchers monitored how lake trout, a generalist species, has been forced to move into deeper waters to forage. The movement was in response to warmer lake temperatures. As a generalist species, lake trouts can survive in different conditions and feed on a variety of prey species. Climate-induced movement and feeding behaviors of the lake trout, manifested changes in the flow of energy and use of nutrients in the lake; causing a rewiring of the existing food web.

Tim Bartley went as far as analyzing the tissues of lake trouts to identify its new prey species and the locations of new resource. Lake trouts are known to be flexible feeders and may feed on other fish species. Although the UG researchers were unable to establish the identity of the prey species, the tissue analysis showed that lake trouts feed mostly on herrings. The analysis suggests that herrings had likewise moved to the deeper parts of the lake.

Based on their monitoring of the altered behavior of lake trouts, the UG researchers concluded that keeping track of behavioural changes in generalist species can serve as early warning system. The significance of such system will prove useful to humans who depend on the resources provided by the ecosystem for subsistence.

Geophysicists conducted studies of the shockwaves that hit Bolivia in 2018, led to the discovery of a complex terrain of mountain ranges. Using a network of powerful computer-aided seismic instruments, geophysicists Jessica Irving of Princeton University and Wenbo Wu, currently a researcher at California Institute of Technology and seismologist Sidao Ni, published their findings in “Science.” The research was actually a joint project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Science and Technology in China, and Princeton University in New Jersey, US.

The most recent earthquake in Bolivia took place in April 2018, which thankfully did not result to casualties, had measured 6.8 in the richter scale at a depth of 562 kilometers. The earthquake sent waves across the region including Bolivia’s capital city, San Salvador, which caused alarm to many residents. In studying the most powerful waves produced by the massive earthquake, the geophysicists were able to unravel a new topography suggestive of mountain ranges, posing as composition of the layer separating the upper and lower mantle. They tentatively call the layer as the “660-km Boundary.”

New Findings Establishes the Transition Zone as a Range of Mountainous Landforms

The exact composition of Earth’s inner layers has long been a debatable issue among scientists. Traditionally, the layer between the upper and lower mantle about 660 kilometers beneath the Earth’s surface, is referred as the Transition Zone.

The zone is said to have occurred as a result of minerals (olivine) forming thicker structures of crystal minerals, which when converted reflected between the upper and lower mantle. Those previous findings was deducted from studies of a body of waves generated by earthquakes, which based on mineral physics are dependent on phase-changes related to temperature, density and depth.

The new findings gathered by geophysicists Irving, Wu and Ni, revealed that the Transition Zone they now call as the “660 KM Boundary,” possesses stronger topography than those of Rocky Mountains or the Himalayas. The geophysicists also noted that the zone had smoother areas suggestive of similar topography found in mountain ranges and abyssal plains.

Nearly all studies conducted about wildfire, indicate that the Earth is basically susceptible to wildfire occurrences.

Where vegetation such as grasses, brush, trees and homes pose as flammable materials, the presence of oxygen in the air plus the intense heat of the sun, can all combine and start an uncontrollable wildfire. In 2018, intense scorching heat waves engulfed many parts of Europe, causing the decade’s worst natural wildfire disaster to spread in Greece, Sweden and Latvia.

The California wildfire tragedy in November 2018, is touted as the most devastating in the state’s history. Although investigations have yet to determine the actual cause, a common observation among firefighters is that the wildfire was made much worse by the effects of global warming.

Still, despite the occurrence of such phenomenon, recent global studies show that between 84% and 90% of wildfires that transpired worldwide, were caused by humans. Aside from decimating natural resource and private properties, destroying human lives, as well as creating adverse economic and social impact, the aftermath of wildfires has enduring effects not visible to the naked eye.

Burned Forest Soils Take as Many as 80 Years to Fully Recover

Based on an important study recently conducted by the Australian National University, burned forest soils will take as many as 80 years to recover. The findings is contrary to common previous perceptions that soil recovery will take place after 10 to 15 years.

Regardless of what or who caused a wildfire, the enduring ill-effects of soil burned by overly intense heat will greatly affect the functions of the ecosystem, particularly those that largely depend on plant communities.

Professor David Lindenmayer of the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society, and also a member of the research team said that not even scientists knew for how long forest soils are affected after a wildfire.

“We thought forests could recover within 10 or 15 years, at most, after these sorts of events.”

According to the ANU report, raging wildfires can bring soil temperatures beyond 500 degrees Celsius, likely resulting to depletion of vital soil nutrients. If the area has been previously disturbed by logging activities, the degradation of soil nutrients by wildfires will be more severe.

In light of such findings, the ANU research stressed the importance of including such effects in carrying out land management initiatives and in formulating related policies aimed at reducing, if not preventing wildfires and logging disturbances.

In recent months, there’s been a complete flood of news regarding Garcinia Cambogia goods available on the industry and if you do not understand what it is that it is you are becoming, you might wind up getting one which does not have the correct ingredients or a lot of them to really assist you with weight reduction. So, locating pure Garcinia Cambogia among the maximum quality at the best cost is currently something which is rather difficult to perform.

What’s Garcinia Cambogia?

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Where Would You Purchase Pure Garcinia Cambogia?

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A lot of people have a tendency to overeat and overindulge themselves using different kinds of greasy foods, that may quickly grow into unhealthy lifestyles because of this. To combat and counteract this, there are also fruits and vegetables that are mixed together in order to create green smoothies and fruit juices for a nutrient beverage.

The wholesome advantages of drinking green beverages made from fresh fruits and vegetables are demonstrated to boost the caliber of somebody’s life. The Patriot power greens is the best green drink on the market you can buy today if you don’t want to waste your time juicing every time. The toxicity levels within the body are diminished, since this beverage acts as a detox beverage that flushes waste in the human body. Antioxidants in the leafy fruits and greens used in green beverages also help give an extra boost to the person’s immune system.

Watch this review:

The alkaline amounts in green veggies are crucial to the digestive tract of the human body. The vast array of minerals, trace vitamin and nutrition found in green meals are crucial to combating the aging process, specific ailments and chronic digestive and digestive tract diseases. The combo of leafy green fruits and vegetables at a green beverage have demonstrated to decrease bad and weight levels of cholesterol.

Green beverage advocates contend that people who consume green beverages also start to observe the shift in their own skin, nails, hair and their general stress levels fall.

Drinking green beverages can cut back on the craving that cause overindulgence and overeating. Since the body begins to experience a wholesome surge of vitamins and nutrients from consuming these beverages, the detoxifications procedure starts. Your human body rids itself of foods that are processed, large sugary foods, also starts to shed weight. The cravings for great wholesome foods really are a given with ingesting those beverages.

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Dolphins, swans, clear blue skies and oceans are being perceived by many as indications of how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting ecosystems and the environment. People are concluding that while daily activities and social lives have been disrupted, reduced carbon emissions are giving them clearer views of natural sceneries beyond the horizon. However, environmental […]

As concerns heightened for marine organisms that rely on endangered reefs for their continued existence, researchers from the University of Delaware have explored the possibility of using 3D-printed coral reefs as replacement habitats. As it is, possibilities of rehabilitating the endangered corals is getting more remote in light of the worsening weather conditions caused by […]